September 15, 2008

South Carolina’s Furman University Among First Users of ADT Select Link Emergency Notification System

by ssavage

ADT Security Services today announced Greenville, S.C.-based Furman University is one of the first users of ADT Select Link, a new emergency communications system capable of simultaneously sending thousands of text or voice messages to cell phones, desktop and laptop computers, PDAs and digital pagers.

New legislation signed into law last month by President Bush requires all U.S. colleges and universities to "immediately notify" students and staff in the event of a significant emergency on campus. Furman's implementation of ADT Select Link has positioned it on the leading edge of campus security.

Select Link will allow Furman to notify students, faculty and staff of emergency situations such as dangerous conditions on campus, severe weather and school and road closings, according to Robert Miller, director of the university's Department of Public Safety.

"ADT Select Link has all the features I was looking for - short activation time, easy operation, maintenance and management and the capability of using cell phones, emails, pagers and text messaging to notify students and staff," he said.

ADT Select Link requires no software or system installation and accepts message input from an Internet-connected computer or any telephone. A designated staff member types or records a voice message into the Web-based system and determines which recipients need to receive the information. Should a computer not be available during an emergency situation, the staff member can call a toll-free number 24-hours a day to reach an ADT Select Link representative who will then compose and send the message.

The receipt of every message is automatically verified and recorded, while busy signals or no-answers result in repeated calls until the message is received. The same information reaches every recipient, delivering voice and text in a choice of 10 languages including English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Vietnamese.

Furman is the state's oldest and largest private institution. The university educates more than 2,600 students on an 800-acre campus on the outskirts of Greenville. Miller said 98 percent of students have registered for Select Link notification.

"We are able to send alerts to just about everyone on and around our campus --any time of day," he said.

ADT Select Link is ideal for any organization that needs to notify large numbers of people with emergency or even routine operational information, said Patrick Fiel, ADT's public safety advisor.

"During an emergency, information can help to save lives, reduce injuries and limit property damage," Fiel said. "The addition of timely, accurate information from ADT Select Link can significantly expand the abilities of authorities during a crisis situation."

About ADT Security Services

ADT Security Services, a unit of Tyco International, is the largest provider of electronic security services to nearly six million commercial, government and residential customers throughout North America. ADT's total security solutions include intrusion, fire protection, video systems, access control, critical condition monitoring, electronic article surveillance, radio frequency identification (RFID) and integrated systems. ADT's Web site address is http://www.adt.com/.